Bishop Leads Q&A Session on Charged Priest

By Brian Arola
Hibbing Daily Tribune
June 5, 2015

http://www.hibbingmn.com/news/local/bishop-leads-q-a-session-on-charged-priest/article_0d588b9e-0b29-11e5-bd32-97b96d2746ff.html

Bishop Paul Sirba of the Diocese of Duluth held a town hall-style meeting with parishioners of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Tuesday to answer questions in the aftermath of sexual misconduct charges levied against the church’s associate pastor in May.

Brian Lederer, the priest charged with five felony counts of sexual conduct on May 7, is currently on administrative leave from the parish. He was expected to appear in St. Louis County Court in Hibbing Thursday, but the hearing was reset to July 23. He has yet to enter a plea.

The hour of question and answer time drew more than 100 individuals to St. Leo’s Hall, with questions ranging from what will happen next for Lederer, to what Assumption School is doing in response to the alleged incidents.

Sirba started out the hour by stating that Lederer’s future status with the church will be dependant upon the court’s determination.

While labelling the allegations as “credible,” he called on parishioners to let the legal process play out before prejudging the case.

“Civil authorities have taken their rightful place in conducting an investigation,” Sirba said. “We still have, by law, the presumption of innocence.”

At the same time, he called on parishioners to pray for the families involved and for any who have suffered from sexual abuse.

Another question regarded whether Lederer was being paid while he’s on administrative leave. He is, Sirba said, but the diocese is not covering the cost of his defense.

Canonical restrictions have also been placed on Lederer by the diocese since his release from prison. He’s not allowed to fulfill any priestly duties, approach any schools or interact with minors, Sirba said, adding that the measures go above what the courts stipulated on Lederer’s release. He posted bail on May 14 and was released by the courts without conditions.

As for the steps the church and Assumption School are taking in response to the allegations, diocese staff said measures are already in place to train all who come in contact with school children on proper procedures.

“We are, as we have been over the year, consistently trying to improve our ability to provide a safe environment,” Sirba said. He then welcomed Cynthia Zook, the diocese’s director of schools, to speak.

Zook said a formal workshop on safe environment training will be held in August, which goes along with other training required for any staff that interacts with children at the schools.

“All of our volunteers working in our schools with the children, and all of our staff — everyone that’s involved with the direct contact with minors — has to go through the safe environment training, sign the code of conduct for our diocese and background checks,” she said.

Likewise, priests go through similar background checks and evaluations as they go through the seminary, Sirba said.

“We’re trying to gauge the best science, gauge the best training and preparation, and trying to bring these to the light,” he said.

Several of those gathered expressed pride in the way the diocese has handled the difficult situation, as well as the community support for Assumption.

The question of enrollment at Assumption was brought up, with a school board member confirming that five to seven families opted against re-enrolling for next year. It wasn’t clear whether the court case was the reason why, as the downturn in the mining industry was mentioned as an alternative explanation.

The town hall ended at the prompting of the Rev. Gabriel Waweru of Blessed Sacrament, who said another session may be scheduled in the future if need be.

He called on the parish to search for closure in their hearts, while continuing to pray for all involved.

“Closure begins in your heart. We cannot change the system. We cannot change what happened,” he said. “What happened or did not happen — that we don’t know — but we can all have a responsibility to change our own habits.”